Week 12

            I’ve recently discovered that the one thing that truly de-stresses me is crafts. I didn’t think coloring or making something from paper or what-not was a therapeutic technique for myself, but lately I’ve been noticing that after I color a nice Disney coloring page provided by Google, I am more relaxed and ready to do more work or studying. I’ve always been crafty though, so it’s weird that I never really noticed this before. The craft I miss most: scrapbooking! Ohhhh scrapbooking! I love making my memories into books where I can basically do anything I want. It is really unfortunate that I couldn’t bring all of my stuff to college frankly because it would take up far too much space. :( I think if I had all of my scrapbooking stuff here though, I wouldn’t get anything done… which would be bad? Yea, bad. This summer I am going to have to catch up on my scrapbooking hard core! I have a whole year and a half to finish! Oh dear… but it will be fun so I am not worried! Summer is a great time to finish this because I can do it outside and get a tan. I am too pale, and the sun needs to be my friend a.s.a.p.! Also a few trips to Hobby Lobby will be in order. That is my haven! I love Hobby Lobby. Whenever I walk in that store, I get so inspired by everything there! You know the fake flowers they have sitting on the right hand side when you walk in, yep I used them to make my own prom bouquet. (And for being fake they looked pretty awesome!) Looking over this blog I have come to realize I am going to be that mom that is constantly taking pictures and doing craft time and I am ok with this! Moral of the Blog: I love crafts!

Word Count: 318

Week 12

            Alright, so I am currently having a very difficult time keeping up with everything I have to get done with before the end of the school year. I know we all are getting close to crunch time and we are all stressed, but I am really reaping the effects of stress right now. I was extremely sick for the past month with….ding ding ding you are right I had mono. So, I’ve been in bed for a majority of March and April and now I am catching up on all of the work I missed out on and it’s a little ridiculous. This research paper is killing me, which it really shouldn’t cuz we’ve had all of this time to work on it, and my 5 finals (yes, 5!) and juries for piano. Juries are where you play 2 pieces from memory in front of the entire piano faculty and they judge you…. intimidating as can be. I also am lacking the drive to practice until yesterday when a very unfortunate circumstance occurred during master class. Adam, you know what I am talking about :/. Ahhhhhhhh. I just want this semester to end, but then again I want more time to get my work done. Why is life so stressful? Why can’t we just color Disney Coloring Book pictures and make arts and crafts!? One thing that really de-stressitizes me is scrapbooking which I left at home. Sad cats.  But don’t you worry! I will get through all of this! Hopefully in one piece too… oh and I have a formal to look forward/prepare for which is fun no doubt, but is something else I need to fit into my schedule. At least I will get to wear a pretty dress and look nice and take pictures! I always enjoy those…. Ok, well I hit the word benchmark and now it is time for Elise to get some sleep!

Word Count:321

Week 11

            This research paper! It is going to be the death of me I just know it!  8 pages discussing the political symbolism behind the characters of The Wizard of Oz is interesting yes, but I don’t know if it is 8 pages worth of research. Nonetheless, I have devised a plan-of-attack for this paper! I am planning on using Rodriguez’s first idea of using the print copy of my source and use highlighters, pens and post-it notes and just attack that source! Just like I attack those brownies the other day… but that’s another story.  I think we need about 8 sources, right? So that will be a lot of deciphering sources, but I have a feeling it is going to help me write this research paper having all of the information all highlighted and colorful. This research paper is going to be a little different from the other papers I have written here merely just because of the amount of sources and information I will be presenting in the paper compared to the paper’s I’ve been writing that have been more of a personal story or narrative.  I did write an informative speech in my Com 110 class that is slightly similar to this kind of paper, but I will have to make some arrangements to make it all work out in the end. Some advice I would give is not to let this wait until the last minute. I can foresee a lot of time being spent on this paper and time is what we really need. Basically, this paper is what I’m going to be doing this weekend. Yes. I know what you’re thinking. I’m a crazy one! Writing a paper all weekend! What an animal. All I have to say to that is, yes, I know. I’m pretty crazy.  Plus a Disney movie date night will be on ABC Family so that will keep me company as I write. So, I guess I’m slightly ok with this being my weekend…just slightly though.

Word Count : 336

Week 10

             My paper is going to be about the symbols used in the movie, The Wizard of Oz. There are many different topics I could have chosen, but this one was the one with the most sources available. This topic is one that I am extremely interested in not only because it is one of my favorite movies, but also it has such deep relations with other aspects of the world. Almost everything in the film is a symbol for something in the late 1800’s or 1930’s and is affiliated with either the government or the economy. For example, one of the main characters, the Tin Man, is a symbol for the industrial workers who faced the hardships in their careers and have the lives they lead. This symbol is also affiliated and used with other symbols throughout the movie, which make learning about this very interesting. Other symbols in the movie include the main character Dorothy, the Wicked Witch of the West, and of course the grand Emerald City in the Land of Oz.  I am interested in what I am researching about, but coming up with sources and the actual writing of the paper itself is proving to be difficult.  Just from writing the proposal, I had major difficulty deciding how I wanted to start my paper, and even more of a hard time coming up with the right words to say it.

            Something that reminds me of these symbols are the symbols used in the musical Wiked. Although this musical is associated with The Wizard of Oz, it too has different symbols within it.  I love this musical just because it is based off of The Wizard of Oz and Kristin Chenoworth has the voice of an angel! I remember watching her and thinking that could be me oneday… boy I was wrong.

Word Count: 302

Week 8

Recently, I watched the movie The Wizard of Oz and found it to be, as usual, one of the best movies to be made in the history of cinematography. As you can tell from the preceding sentence, I really like this movie and watch it multiple times every year. I recommend this movie to anyone who isn’t a negative or anti-happy-sentiment kind of person. This movie has a positive pull to it, and is a great movie for people of all ages. The main audience of this film is generally children, but it is also a text that is relatable to adults as well.

To those who are not familiar with the film, The Wizard of Oz is a story about a girl from a small farm in Kansas named Dorothy Gale who is unhappy with her current situation in Kansas. She lives at the farm with her Auntie Em, and Uncle Henry along with their three workers who are her only friends around. In the beginning of the film, we are told through Dorothy how she wishes she could live “Somewhere over the Rainbow” where life is new and exciting and not at all like her home in Kansas. She is then magically transported via “twister” to the Land of Oz where everything is different and new. It is there Dorothy faces conflicts with a Wicked Witch and must survive with the help of her new friends the Tin Man, Scarecrow and Cowardly Lion. The movie ends with a heartfelt family life-lesson and leaves the viewer in a happy state of mind.

In my opinion, the overall tone of this movie is self-discover in regards to who you are as a person and where you’re true home is. If you are at all interested in watching a movie with these kinds of discoveries then The Wizard of Oz is the movie for you! I have deducted this by the way people have reacted with me when we watched it together. A common subject that was discussed was how family is something very important to whom we are as people.

         The main text and language used in this movie was mostly formal English. There were a few parts where some slang words would be used, but a majority of the movie was formal and quick to comprehend. The directing of this movie was also done in a formal way. There weren’t many “odd angle shots” or random scenes that didn’t make any sense as some films today have. An example of a less formal kind of directing as compared to the directing of The Wizard of Oz is The Blair Witch Project. In that movie the directing is a more modern technique where a smooth transition is not necessary all of the time. Personally I rather watch a more professionally directed movie than an informal one.

Being classified as a “classic” movie, it is not surprising to see that this movie was originally aired on T.V. in 1939. Because the film is an older movie, some people feel as if the movie’s plot does not relate well to our current situation. In reality, I believe that many of the topics that were covered in the film are still relevant to today’s society.  For example, government was a key component to the movie’s plot because of the economic situation that engulfed the United States at that time; likewise today government still plays a huge role in our lives and shares many similar issues as those shown in the original movie. The Wizard of Oz was made during the 1930’s in the middle of The Great Depression when the government was viewed to be evil and rich. This sentiment was portrayed in the movie through the Emerald City when Dorothy goes there to receive help to go home, and she finds that the Great Wizard of Oz (who resides in the Emerald City) has no means of helping her unless she kills the Wicked Witch. This task is similar to the situation that the people in America had to face where they needed to find a way to find work in an economy that was floundering without any help from the government. This is just one example of the many different symbols used in this film to relate this magical world to our world.

Overall, the movie The Wizard of Oz is a fun-filled family style movie that is meant for people of all ages who (like I said earlier) are generally happy people and enjoy life.

Review on Amazon 

http://www.amazon.com/review/R2G11HEYK5KZDA

       pen-name: Leesie-Girl92

Word Count: 722